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Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit

NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION

NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,289,385 to it, the largest being JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ($2,572,500). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$8.1M
Funders on record
35
Grants received
$6.3M
Net assets
$1.7M
12/35 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 21%
01What it does

What National Legal Aid and Defender Association does

Mission

The national legal aid & defender association (nlada) works to promote and develop high quality, effective civil legal aid and public defense services. Nlada accomplishes this by supporting the existing network of civil and defender services throughout the country and by encouraging the formation of new legal aid and defender organizations throughout the country whose purpose it is to provide free legal assistance to low income individuals.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Special projects - restricted grants received by nlada to carry out specific projects on behalf of civil legal aid and public defense. Nlada's civil and defender divisions both received funding to support and promote the delivery of high quality legal services in the field. The civil division received funding to support work to enhance outreach, education and training to civil legal aid programs during the nationwide pandemic and lock down. The defender division has received funding to carry out various initiatives on behalf of an improved public defense system.

    $3,499,417 spentof which $1,307,629 as grants
    62% of program spending

  2. Training and conference division - the training and conference agendas are in alignment with nlada's strategic goals and the work of program staff, providing training opportunities and conferences to both the civil and public defense communities.

    $581,212 spent$459,191 earned by the program
    10% of program spending

  3. Civil division - supports a wide array of activities on behalf of civil legal aid program providers, pro bono attorneys, law schools, bar associations and other organizations and individuals playing a role in ensuring that low-income people have access to effective representation in civil legal matters. The defender division supports an array of activities on behalf of improved public defense systems.

    $575,732 spent$1,765,926 earned by the program
    10% of program spending

  4. Communications

    $453,023 spent
    8% of program spending

  5. Annual conference

    $249,845 spent$365,770 earned by the program
    4% of program spending

  6. Defender division

    $209,707 spent$575,143 earned by the program
    4% of program spending

  7. Government relations

    $44,675 spent
    1% of program spending

The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,613,611.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($4.5M) Expenses 100 ($4.5M) Net assets 100 ($465k)2018 Revenue 107 ($4.8M) Expenses 102 ($4.6M) Net assets 146 ($680k)2019 Revenue 130 ($5.8M) Expenses 121 ($5.4M) Net assets 239 ($1.1M)2020 Revenue 112 ($5.0M) Expenses 112 ($5.0M) Net assets 244 ($1.1M)2021 Revenue 173 ($7.8M) Expenses 115 ($5.1M) Net assets 813 ($3.8M)2022 Revenue 117 ($5.3M) Expenses 134 ($6.0M) Net assets 659 ($3.1M)2023 Revenue 136 ($6.1M) Expenses 161 ($7.2M) Net assets 421 ($2.0M)2024 Revenue 181 ($8.1M) Expenses 188 ($8.4M) Net assets 359 ($1.7M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (181)Expenses (188)Net assets (359)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $3.2M to $6.0M (+85%).

$2.9M
$3.1M
$3.5M
$3.2M
$6.0M
$5.8M
$4.1M
$3.6M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 7% · 2018 11% · 2019 23% · 2020 20% · 2021 22% · 2022 9% · 2023 14% · 2024 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

56% of NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (93% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,392 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$13k
’17
$215k
’18
$430k
’19
$26k
’20
$2.6M
’21
−$712k
’22
−$1.1M
’23
−$289k
’24
1.6
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

April Camara Frazier

President and CEO

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed3631282826303130
Joined·+8+2+1+1+11+10+5
No longer listed·13513796
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $686k → $740k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
Demand Justiceunclassified
$51k
Justice Innovation Incunclassified
$38k
FjcDAF
$9k
funders
6
3
3
8
12
11
7
7
3

9 of 35 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 35 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 57%; half comes from just 3 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

41%
largest funder
57%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 90% · 2019 60% · 2020 39% · 2021 27% · 2022 46% · 2023 47% — growing more concentrated.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

33% of NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 34% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 10 states in all.

WA
IL
MI
NY
IN
CA
NE
DC
OK
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Washington, D.C. out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $500k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION's funding base is broadening — from 6 funders to 7 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−4% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve1.6mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)9% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10.0M on record — $9.9M federal, $71k state.

Federal$9.9M
grants $9.9Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Top agencies
  • Department of Justice$7.0M
  • Corporation for National and Community Service$2.9M
State$71k
19
20
21
22
23
24
By state
  • CT$59k
  • DE$12k
  • OR$225

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Washington, D.C.

National Center for Learning Disabilities Inc83%National Student Legal Defense Network81%National Immigration Law Center81%National Democratic Institute for International Affairs81%Hispanic National Bar Association81%The Land Alliance Inc81%Local Progress Policy Action80%The Due Process of Law Foundation80%

Nationally

Fbi National Academy Associates Inc83%National Center for Learning Disabilities Inc83%New Hampshire Legal Assistance Inc82%NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc82%Association of Legal Administrators82%National Domestic Workers Alliance Inc82%The Legal Aid Society82%Capital District Women's Bar Association82%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

67% of spending goes to programs.

Program 67%Management 23%Fundraising 10%

Governance

18
board members
94%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

78%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 12 states

ND
MI
NY
OR
NJ
CA
MD
KS
AR
HI
OK
AL

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Nlada Service Corporation · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION?
NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,289,385 to it, the largest being JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ($2,572,500). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION have?
IRS filings report 35 organizations giving $6,289,385 in grants to NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION?
JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,572,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like NATIONAL LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 35 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing